It's finally spring!

Spring is here, and with it's arrival, I'm another year older.  I had a wonderful birthday this year, just resting and being with family.

I want to share a few pics of my birthday flowers, in part because they gave me an opportunity to use two new Hull vases I picked up last year, but hadn't had a chance to use yet.  I love Hull pottery; I found these two vases I really liked for less than what I expected them to go for.  (I don't remember what I paid for each, but it was no more than $25 for either one.)  

Hull is one of several Ohio pottery companies that were popular in the early to mid part of the last century.  (Rookwood, McCoy and Shawnee are some others.)  I've come to love to vintage pottery.

The birthday flowers from my husband were just perfect to spread between my Hull pieces, and I enjoy the vases as much as the flowers!

💕

I love the shape and soft colors of this piece.

 The coloring on this one is really subtle and just beautiful.

This is a nice tall pitcher.

I also got flowers from my son!  I've been surrounded by flowers this week; I just love it!

These gave me an excuse to pull out my vintage Snoopy vase 🙂

Flowers in the spring fill my heart with hope.

And finally, I bought a little birthday present for myself.  I've wanted a bunny planter for years, and I finally found one I loved for only $24.

I'm tempted to put a little stain on him.

But isn't he great?

I know my husband is going to accuse me again of making this a gardening blog.  But vintage pottery isn't gardening....and hey, he gave me the flowers.

Happy spring! ⚘

What a difference a year makes!

I came to The House of Goodwill this week, for the first time since January.  I was sitting outside on the deck when a "memory" showed up on my phone.  It was a photo of the living room from one year ago, and when I saw it, I couldn't believe it.  I had forgotten how much work we did on the house, and so recently.

It was just one year ago that we had the living room mantle made and installed (after trying to find someone who could make it for over a year), and that was the catalyst that spurred us to finish getting the house in order.

Here is the photo that my phone sent me, of one year ago:

What an unorganized mess!

You can see the slab for the soon-to-be-made mantle on the floor in front of the fireplace.

To put this in perspective, here is a photo I took the other night, one year later:

Peaceful!

My fireplace mantle is one of my favorite things about this house.

Yes, we've come a long way in one year!

I got my mantle all set for spring, with a discount candle from TJ Maxx, a bunny from Goodwill and a $2.50 pitcher from an estate sale, with $4 flowers from Wal-Mart.

I

I split the pink flowers between two small vases.

The daffodils on the right are all from the yard; some at home and some here.

I love the mantle lit up at night.

Old stone fireplaces make me so happy!

Here are my daffodils in daylight; I look forward to them every year!

Ever since my neighbor Jeanne gave me a daffodil bouquet for my birthday a few years ago, made with five different daffodils, I've wanted to grow a collection like hers.

I added two new varieties last fall.

This bouquet has four different daffodils.

I just want to share a few; they're so beautiful:

This orangey-pink and white double daffodil is one I planted a few years ago.

Just one single flower by itself is so pretty.

This is my second year with "Golden Echo."

Each stem bears multiple flowers, so it's prolific!

This beautiful white and orange daffodil came with The House of Goodwill.  I love the delicate coloring in the center.

The yard is full of the "ordinary" all-yellow, early blooming variety.

I noticed a few of these later blooming clumps mixed in.

I dug a couple of bulbs of this one to take home and plant.

I love daffodils because they're the first sign of spring, and I love all the different varieties.  The wonderful thing about daffodils is how they naturalize by themselves...one bulb will become a good size clump within just a few years.  Once the foliage dies back in May or June, you don't even know that daffodils are there, till they burst up in early spring.

I've planted single bulbs of different daffodils around the bases of the trees in the front yard at The House of Goodwill.  It won't be long till the trees are ringed with lots of flowers in the spring.

Spring flowers are like sunshine to the soul. 🌞